


#14: Echo

by theskywasblue



Series: 100 days, 100 prompts [32]
Category: Saiyuki
Genre: Drabble, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-07
Updated: 2017-03-07
Packaged: 2018-09-30 04:15:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10153457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theskywasblue/pseuds/theskywasblue
Summary: It's hard to imagine a kid growing up anywhere in proximity to what remains of Houtou Castle.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Missed a few days because I caught the cold of death. Time to get back into it.

It’s hard to imagine a kid growing up anywhere in proximity to what remains of Houtou castle.

It gets cold at night; There isn’t exactly central heating. Of course, the walls are meant to insulate against the chill that sweeps across the desert once night sets in, but they aren’t exactly in peak condition anymore. There are drafts everywhere, gaps where the wind comes in, as sharp and ruthless as an assassin’s blade. There are countless long hallways that seem to carry the echoes of breath and footsteps forever, even as they swallow up light in an instant, creating an illusion of endless darkness, like a purgatory.

If he’s in the right mood, at the right moment, Kougaiji will tell stories of a castle that Dokugakuji knows he will probably never live to see: of a grand courtyard filled with flowers and fruit trees, where now there is only dust; of a banquet hall ringing with music and raucous laughter; of the perfumed warmth of his mother’s private chambers, and the sound of her voice.

Dokugakuji is chilled by the sound of footfalls in the empty halls, but for Kougaiji, those eternal echoes must be nothing short of agony.


End file.
